This was a request from a number of wonderful people, several of whom are going to meet Kerry Ehrin in LA this very day! I'm so excited for you guys and I hope you enjoy your fic! Have a great time! Also, I've had to split it into 3 parts because I have written an actual novel based on one simple little request. My muse got away from me!
"Just go pack your bag."
"Okay."
She glanced up at him, not surprised, but her eyes flicked to his face in shock before she could stop herself. She knew he would go, but it hurt just the same.
"Where are we going?"
She gasped, the fragile grip on her resolve breaking, letting out the sobs that she'd been holding in since she uttered the words "I slept with my brother." It felt like she had started speaking hours ago, her body aching from the way her arms had been tightly wrapped around herself, every muscle tensed. It was like reliving it all over again, adrenaline flooding her veins like she was preparing for another attack.
But now, with his words - his gentle, softly spoken words - all of the adrenaline flooded out of her in one single moment. The options of "fight or flight" were gone, replaced with "cry" and "weep" and "breathe" and "cling on for dear life to stop yourself getting washed away by it all."
She let out a horrible, heartbreaking wail that she had no control over as he reached for her, letting her step into his willing arms, pulling her tight against him. She clutched at his jacket desperately, disbelief at his acceptance melting away as his hands gently grabbed a handful of her hair while he held her, the same way he always did, like nothing had changed. It had changed, of course, but she wasn't sure how and she didn't care right now, pressing her wet face against his neck, feeling her damp lashes fluttering against his ear, probably annoying him but she couldn't have pulled away from him for anything right now.
After what felt like a very long time, his hands stroking up and down her back soothingly, his gentle shushes in her ear eventually quieting her sobs into nothing more than soft hiccups, she pulled away, afraid to finally look in his eyes. He was looking at her sadly, his mouth opening like he was going to say something but he didn't know what, so they just gazed at each other for a moment, like they were somehow seeing each other for the first time. His hands slid down her arms, grabbing her hands in his own.
Something about the broken, pitying way he was staring at her made her bottom lip begin to tremble again. She didn't want his pity. She didn't know what she wanted, but it wasn't his pity, and her face crumpled as tears threatened to fall over again.
As if reading her mind, his eyes darted wildly to her shiny eyes, to her quivering bottom lip and back again and he opened his mouth to speak again.
"Do you have a passport?" He asked suddenly, his voice sounding loud and strange after such a long silence. She frowned in confusion, before shaking her head slowly. She had never needed one.
He nodded lightly, glancing thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at her.
"Go pack a bag." He commanded lightly.
"Wait... really?"
He nodded and she offered him a small, sad smile at realising his intention.
"No, it's ok. We don't have to go anywh-"
"Yes we do. Go pack a bag."
"Alex..." She intertwined her fingers with his, smiling sweetly at him. "We're not-"
He interupted her again. Any other time and he'd be in the doghouse for it, but something about his gentle insistence was reassuring tonight. She glanced over his shoulder at her beautiful new window, shivering slightly at the sight of it.
"Go pack." He repeated simply. "Either you pack a bag, or I pack one for you and I don't know what belt goes with which skirt." He smirked at her, pleased when she pressed her lips together, rolling her eyes at him.
"Now go." He insisted, pulling her hand up to his face, pressing a soft kiss against her palm before releasing her and stepping around her to head to the kitchen. "I gotta make a coupla calls. Pack something for me too, ok?"
And then he was gone, heading into the kitchen and Norma stood numbly for a second, watching his retreating back and then the space he had just occupied for a few moments more, before she took off up the stairs on trembling feet. Excitement caught up with her halfway up the stairs and she increased her pace, jogging up the last few steps, her face breaking into a wide grin.
She excitedly grabbed the overnight bag from on top of the wardrobe, plonking it open on the bed and then pausing, realising it would be impossible to pack without at least some information. She threw her makeup bag in, before grabbing their toothbrushes and the tiny travel first aid kit from the bathroom because it never hurt to be prepared.
"Alex?" She called out, frowning when there was no reply. She headed back out onto the stairs, leaning over the rail.
"Alex, honey? Where are we actually going?"
There was still no reply, and Norma felt a vague sense of unease settle over her. She took a few calming breaths as she swept down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen, straining to hear any signs of movement.
"Alex?" She called out again timidly, rounding the corner to the kitchen, her worst fears confirmed as she found the room empty. He was gone. He'd left her. It was ok. This is what she expected when she had told her. This is what she had been prepared for. So why did she feel like all the air had been knocked out of her?
Just as she felt like she might die, each breath starting to hurt as she desperately fought the urge to cry again, her ears picked up the faint sound of a voice coming from outside the back door. She stepped closer, relief flooding through her as she picked up on Alex's voice, instantly feeling guilty for believing he had abandoned her.
"-Yes Janine, I know it's late... Yes, I'm aware of that. No... Janine... No!" He sounded annoyed, like he was trying desparately not to snap at his poor, simple receptionist. Norma tiptoed closer to the partially open door.
"Janine! I really don't care. Just get it done." He hung up without another word, his tone clipped and final and Norma instantly knew Janine was probably in tears right about now.
Norma jumped as he swung back into the house, nearly colliding with her, looking startled to see her standing there.
"How long have you been here?" He snapped and she blinked a few times.
"Just a second. What was that about?"
He rearranged his face into an impassive expression, tucking his phone in his pocket casually.
"Just letting work know I wouldn't be in."
She frowned at her watch.
"It's late. You called Janine this late?"
He shrugged, like it was no big deal.
"You all packed?" He asked, changing the subject.
She shook her head lightly, letting him guide her back through the kitchen, his hand on her lower back the whole time.
"I'm fantastic at packing." She bragged, a small smile playing on her lips. He didn't doubt it. "But even I need a little information."
He didn't answer, his face looking distant and distracted so she just carried on, padding up the stairs with him.
"Like... where we're going? And how long we're going there for?" She raised her eyebrows quizzically at him, spinning round at the top of the stairs to stare down at him, noticing him gazing distractedly at the wall, apparently not even hearing her. Her face fell as she took in his distant expression.
"Or we could just stay here?" She said lightly, shrugging casually like it was no big deal. Like her excitement at their trip was nothing. "Yeah." Her tone changed, nodding like it was a much better idea. "Yeah, let's just stay here. It was silly-"
He did a double take at her words, like he was just registering them, glancing up at her disappointed face and sprinting up the stairs to meet her. He stopped on the step down from her, letting her keep the higher ground, the step difference putting them at an almost equal height.
"No. We're going." He said definitively, reaching to wrap his arms around her back.
"We don't have to-"
"Lake. Mountains. Coupla days." He answered her questions from earlier now, with succinct one word answers, watching as her eyes widened at his words, a smile spreading across her face. Her hands found their way to his shoulders and he tightened his grip around her back, lifting her off her feet. She gasped and he smiled against her shoulder as he felt her legs come up to wrap around his waist. He seemed to end up carrying her an awful lot. He couldn't help it - He just loved the feel of her weight in his arms, the feel of her limbs wrapped around him, always trusting him not to drop her.
He grunted like she weighed a ton, feeling her giggle all the way through his body, as he carried her gently to their bedroom.
"It's like being married to a spider monkey." He muttered gruffly, as if it was all some big chore, as if he wasn't the one to initiate it. She knew he was joking. He always was. They both knew he loved it really.
She giggled again, before he set her back down on her feet, letting her slide down his body slowly, before releasing her and taking an abrupt step back before he could get too distracted.
"Ok. How far did you get?" He wandered over to the bag, raising his eyebrows at the contents. He span on his heel, licking his lips, his eyebrows still raised suggestively.
"Right. First aid kit and toothbrushes. What kind of weekend are you planning Mrs Bates?"
She rolled her eyes and crossed over to him quickly, shocking him by pushing him down on the bed. For a second, he thought she was overcome with desire, but she was stepping away from him before he could grab her, twirling away and leaving him sitting on the edge of the bed, letting him know how much his input was needed. He pulled open the drawer next to the bed, grabbing a few essentials and throwing them into the bag, smiling as she tutted at him, slapping his hands away and re-folding the items, placing them back in the way she liked.
He leaned back against the headboard, watching her potter around their room, pulling out numerous little skirts and dresses and blouses and replacing them before deciding on a couple of choices he loved. She folded them neatly, before heading back over to the closet, frowning thoughtfully at a couple of her fancier dresses.
"Do I need anything cute?"
"I... don't really understand the question."
She smiled at him, holding up a sleeveless little black dress, one he'd never seen her wear, figure hugging and lower cut than she normally wore and he gulped.
"Ya know. Cute. Dressy."
He would have loved to have her bring that dress, but truthfully there would be no need for it, and he didn't want to get her hopes up that they would be going any place fancy.
"You probably won't need it." He said, slightly disappointed. "Just bring whatever you want to wear. It'll just be us."
She licked her lips at his words, turning back to the closet to hide her reaction, replacing the dress, and opening to door to his "half" of the wardrobe, that was actually more like a tenth.
"What do you want?" She thumbed through his clothes, glancing at him over her shoulder. He shrugged.
"Whatever."
She rolled her eyes, and turned back to his clothing like she was exasperated by him. In truth, he was just curious to see what she would pick out for him, knowing she would inadvertantly reveal which of his clothes were her favourites via her choices. He smiled as she rested one hand on her hip, deliberating for a few moments before grabbing a pair of dark jeans, and a couple of black t shirts, and then a plain blue button down he rarely wore. She folded them neatly and added them to their bag, before tapping her finger to her lips, reaching right to the back for his oldest shirt, a dark green checkered one, faded and tired from being overworn for far longer than it should have been. He frowned at her choice, but didn't say anything, watching as she finished up and stood with her hand on her hips expectantly.
"Ready?"
He rose to his feet gracefully, crossing over to her, grabbing the bag with one hand and wrapping the other around her lower back, pulling her against him. She stumbled forward, surprised at his sudden movement, her hands grabbing at his shirt to steady herself. He kissed her gently, pressing his lips tenderly against hers, feeling her relax into his touch, letting him pull her flush against him, before he stepped back suddenly, keeping his arm wrapped around her, watching as she leaned forwards with her eyes closed, seeking his lips for a split second more.
"Come on." He muttered, smiling at her, grunting as he lifted their bag, flinging his other arm casually around her shoulders.
She checked her watch as they both settled into the car, frowning worriedly.
"Is it a long drive? It's getting late."
He breathed out a soft little laugh, shaking his head at the steering wheel.
"Yeah... You should probably sleep."
She tutted, starting to undo her seatbelt, reaching for the handle.
"We'll go tomorrow morning then. I'm not having you falling asleep at the wh-"
"No." He said sharply, his hand flying out to grab at her seatbelt before it was sucked back into the mechanism. "We're going now. We need to get away from this house and these people and this town." His tone softened lightly and he leaned across her, leaning in close to pull her seatbelt back across her, clicking it back in place, surprised when she let him. "This town can be poison if you let it."
She nodded tightly, knowing that better than anyone.
"Try and get some sleep." He retreated back to the driver's seat, glancing to see her shaking her head resolutely.
"No way. I'll stay up with you."
He sighed as he pulled away from the parking lot, knowing there was no use arguing with her. Several hours and 67 rounds of I Spy later, she finally drifted off, lulled to sleep like a baby by the darkness and the movements and the constant white noise of the engine, in the middle of a game, leaving Alex to wonder what she had "spied" on the highway that began with an X. It would haunt him that, later, when she eventually awoke, she couldn't remember.
Finally feeling the tug of exhaustion pulling at his eyelids, he pulled in to a gas station in the middle of nowhere, filling up the tank, grabbing a coffee and idly walking around for a few minutes, waiting for the horrible stale gas station coffee to kick in, stretching his tired legs.
Norma woke to find herself alone in the car, glancing out of the window, dazed, blinking a few times to see Alex pacing up and down a gas station parking lot. She sat up, yawning, feeling more tired than before she fell asleep, freezing when she realised she could just about make out his voice from the few feet away.
"Yeah, I understand that." She slunk down a little against the window, watching as Alex scrubbed his hand through his hair, his tone tired and annoyed. "Because I'm on vacation with my wife right now."
She smiled at the words. He was on vacation with his wife. She automatically started playing with her ring, spinning it absently around her finger while he carried on.
"No it can't wait. I just need it done. Do you understand?" His tone was clipped and short and she immediately hoped he wasn't snapping at Janine again. She glanced at her watch. She hadn't been asleep for long but they'd been awake for hours before she'd nodded off, and she immediately glanced around, taking in the darkness that surrounding them. They seemed to be firmly in the middle of nowhere, the gas station the only thing lit up for as far as the eye could see. She somehow got the sense that they were high up, but she didn't know how she knew that, since she couldn't see anything around them, just darkness and the vague shapes of pine trees lining the road.
There was a silence and she chanced another glance at Alex who was off the phone now, watching as he sat on a low wall that trimmed the parking lot, taking a long sip of a coffee, grimacing and sighing heavily, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He yawned, jumping mid-yawn as he phone rang again, hastily answering the ringtone that seemed absurdly loud in the dead of the night.
"Hello? Oh hola ... Sí. ¿Está todo listo?"
She did a little start at Alex's slightly faltering spanish rolling off his tongue, only stumbling over the occasional word. She tried to remember her paltry high school spanish lessons, recognising a word here and there as he conversed easily with someone on the other end of the line.
"Bien... bien. Una vez más, siento haberte llamado tan tarde. Gracias de nuevo."
She swung the car door open as he hung up, watching as he flicked his head up in surprise before smiling broadly at her.
"Where are we?" She asked, crossing over to him on shaky legs, stretching like a baby deer that had forgotten how to walk.
He gestured broadly at the thick darkened forest around them.
"Middla' nowhere." He said happily as she plonked herself down on the wall next to him, grabbing his coffee and taking a sip before he could stop her.
"Ugh. Jesus." She grimaced at the luke warm cup of death he was drinking, gladly handing it back to him and swinging her legs absent mindedly back and forth.
"Are we nearly there?" She asked, sounding like a child. She shivered and he wrapped his arm around her automatically, pulling her against his shoulder.
"Sort of." He didn't sound particularly convincing. She pulled her head up to narrow her eyes at him.
"Are you tired? Are you ok to drive? Do you want me to drive for a bit? Do you wanna take a nap?" She grilled him endlessly.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I've had coffee. I'm good." He said, his bleary eyes slightly giving him away. She frowned at him suspiciously.
"I'm not dying in that car, Alex." She told him. "I have too much to do next week for that."
"You're not gonna die." He assured her.
"We're all gonna die Alex." She reminded him lightly, casting her eyes up at the canopy of stars that hung above them, brighter than she'd ever seen them.
"Yeah well, not till we're old and grey." He pressed a kiss to her temple, pulling her up with him and back towards the car.
"Ok." She agreed brightly. "But I'm gonna stay up with you this time."
To her credit, Norma managed to stay awake for longer than Alex would have anticipated, a grand total of 45 minutes before she fell into a fitful, uncomfortable sleep, waking every few minutes to sleepily ask "Oh did I drift off?" before falling asleep again.
The sky was just beginning to lighten when Alex pulled the car up the steep narrow lane to the cabin. It had been miles since they had seen a car, or another person, and the feeling of isolation that might make some people uncomfortable made him feel strangely at ease. They were alone up here. Nothing could follow them here, not that town, not their demons, nothing.
He glanced over at her, noticing the way her face was scrunched up, her brow furrowed, a soft moan escaping her. She shifted in her seat, her hands flying to pull at where the seatbelt was digging into her neck, scrambling to pull it away from her throat.
"No." She murmured softly, flinging her head to the side, her curls splaying wildly across her face. He sped up, speeding the last stretch of the narrow dirt road to pull in next to the cabin, slamming the breaks on and turning to her, just in time to hear her cry out softly.
"But... it hurts..." She whimpered out, her voice tiny and child-like and his heart broke, reaching for her before he could stop himself. Realistically, looming over her and shaking her hard could have easily been the wrong move, but he couldn't bear to watch her a second more, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. She woke with a start, her eyes darting around wildly before landing on his face, relief instantly flooding her features.
"You ok?" He asked gently, watching as she nodded tightly. They were silent a second more, as he waited to see if she would elaborate. She didn't, just sat up groggily in her seat, looking around into the darkness, her eyes landing on the cabin, brightening immediately.
"We here?" She mumbled, and he followed her gaze to the familiar structure, taking in the place he hadn't been in so long. It looked the same, but also incredibly different, bigger and more homely than the last time he had been here. The architects had done a good job.
"Yeah." He mumbled, letting his hands slip from her shoulders, opening the door and stepping into the freezing dawn air. It was like he didn't realise quite how tired he was until his numb feet hit the ground, his knees protesting, his whole body aching as he unfurled himself from the car. He yawned, glaring at the ever-lightening sky, trying to remember the last time he slept, trying to remember the last time he had stayed up all night. It had been a long time and he felt it now, yawning again, his eyes blinking slowly around, dazed.
"Wow, Alex." She breathed out, gazing happily up at the cabin. "This place is beautiful."
He nodded in agreement, smiling at her awestruck expression, sluggishly heading to the trunk to grab their bag. By the time he had slowly made it to the top of the porch steps, Norma trotting along behind him, his exhaustion caught up with him, and he could barely keep his eyes open, letting her take the key out of his hand and fumble with the lock for a moment, before swinging the door open.
She took the bag out of his hand, shooting him a look that told him to let her, since he looked like he was about to collapse, skipping into the small living room, taking in the trendy, shabby chic decor. The furniture looked antique and artfully chosen, all pointed towards a huge ornate fireplace, with a bear skin rug laid out in front of it. She frowned, pouting down at the piece, torn between disapproval at having such a cruel centrepiece to the room, and desperately wanting to run her hand over the soft fur.
He stood by the doorway, watching as she wandered around the room, curiously running her hand along the carved edge of the fire place.
"Does it work?" She bent down to give the chimney an appraising glance like she knew exactly what she was looking for.
"Of course. There's regular heat too though." He gestured tiredly at the air, which was delightfully warm and making him feel even sleepier. "I'll build you a fire tomorrow though." He glanced at his watch. "Or.. today, actually."
She nodded, sweeping across the room to him, reaching for his hand.
"Of course. Let's go to bed." She said, no intention to her voice, letting him pull her across the room towards the door on the far side, rounding the corner to the large bedroom.
He flopped back immediately on the bed, fully clothed, already feeling sleep pulling at him, before small hands were clasping his, tugging him back into an upright position. He flopped forwards against her shoulder, groaning out a protest, as she slid his leather jacket off his shoulders, tossing it to the floor.
"Be quiet." She muttered, as he let out an irritated groan as her hands flew to the buttons on his sheriff's uniform, making quick work of them, resisting his efforts to lay back against the bed again.
"Norma-"
"What? You gonna sleep in your shoes?" She challenged, exasperated at having to undress him like an unruly child who was pretending he wasn't tired. His head tipped back to pout at her, blinking his eyes open as she shrugged his shirt off his shoulders, her eyes automatically flicking down appreciatively to his chest. "What if you kicked me?" She changed tact, and it worked, as he immediately stopped fighting her, helping her pull his shirt off him.
He finally moved his hands from where they had been laying uselessly at his sides, letting them slink up the backs of her legs, along her thighs, over the curve of her ass and up to the zip at the back of her little pinafore dress, pulling it down as she leaned in to undo his pants, her breath tickling his cheek. It was intimate, undressing each other like this, the atmosphere bristling with tension, even though they both knew they were too tired to do anything about it right now.
A small smile played on her lips as she shrugged her strange little black pinafore off, leaving her standing before him in her shoes, her panties and her blouse. He licked his lips, reaching for her thighs again, pouting as she suddenly dropped to her knees in front of him.
"Er.. Norma?" He started tentatively, stopping as she shot him an unimpressed look from between his legs.
"Calm down, Sheriff." She muttered, dipping her head and reaching to untie his shoes, breathing out a soft laugh at his half disappointed, half relieved groan.
Each shoe was pulled off and discarded and she rose back up to her feet, jumping as he did the same, suddenly rising off the bed to stand. They gazed at each other for a moment, before he smiled down at her, hooking his thumbs into the sides of his pants, sliding them down, leaving him in his boxers and then sinking to his knees in front of her.
"Er.. Alex?" She started, as he pressed a kiss against her hip, before sinking back down suddenly to undo the little straps holding her heeled brogues on.
He smirked up at her from the floor, sliding his hands down her calves, slipping each shoe off and throwing it to the side.
"Calm down, Mrs Romero." She rolled her eyes at him, her own hands flying to her buttons, making quick work of them, and shimmying her flowery blouse off, leaving them both in their underwear in front of each other. He rose back up to his feet, tucking an errant blonde curl behind her ear.
"I'll give you the full tour tomorrow." He promised quietly, and she got the feeling he didn't just mean a cursory tour of the cabin. His hand trailed from her hair, down the side of her face and then down the length of her arm, grasping her hand and pulling her forwards as he sank back down on the bed.
"Oh, have you been here before?" She asked lightly, as she clambered ungracefully across the bed, sliding between the sheets he held open for her.
"Mm?" He murmured. "Oh. Yeah. I own it." He said casually, and she couldn't help but freeze, glancing around the impressively decorated bedroom, with it's tasteful, feminine furnishings, wondering if a second wife was about to pop out somewhere.
"You own it?"
He flopped back against the pillows, murmuring sleepily as he rolled onto his side, wrapping his body around hers. She struggled for a moment to free her trapped arm, already feeling him drifting into unconsciousness, as he pulled her snugly against him, his head nuzzling naturally against her chest. Her now freed arm wrapped around his neck, her fingers stroking lightly through his hair, the other hand resting lightly on his shoulder, feeling her own eyelids growing heavy already. Despite sleeping in the car, it had been a fitful, broken sleep, the kind that just makes you more tired and as Alex's breaths began to even out, she felt each blink grow longer and slower.
"Mm hmm." He muttered eventually, realising she had asked him a question.
There was silence for a minute, and her eyes blinked open one last time, just becoming aware of the golden light of the sunrise peeking in from the edges of the curtains.
"I just need a coupla hours-" He whispered against her chest, before they both drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.